The Problem

We have found overwhelming evidence that many Zimbabwean girls are in desperate need of suitable sanitary products to enable them to continue with their daily lives and to complete their schooling. Very often, the girl will simply stay at home when she has her period – which means she will miss some school days – every single month.

A typical girl’s story:

Tanaka’s joy of becoming a woman was short-lived. With no sanitary products even remotely affordable to her, Tanaka resorted to using plastic bags, leaves, dirt, maize husks – basically anything she could find to absorb her flow. She didn’t think about the risk of infection – she was just desperate to find a solution.

The long walk to school was difficult for Tanaka, as she had to stop in the bushes along the way to change whatever she was using to catch her flow.

At school she was constantly worried about making a mess of her clothes, and of the boys noticing that she was having a period.

Eventually, she decided it was easier to just stay at home when she was having her period instead of going to school. At least at home she could wash a little more easily and feel more secure.

After missing at least 3 days of school a month, despite working as hard as she could to catch up, she kept falling more and more behind in her class work. She would miss important test days and her grades fell. As she was too embarrassed to tell her teachers why she kept missing school, they didn’t know how to help her. One day, she chose not to return to school.

If a girl is absent for 3 days of school a month …that’s 36 days a year …18% of their schooling …missed. Period.

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